Operating device for voting-machine registers



C. H. VEEDER.

OPERTING DEVICE FOR VOTING MACHINE HEGISTERS, (ILC.v

APPLICATION FILED OCI". 23,19I9.

ratentedm@ s, 1920.

' UNITED 'STATES' l CURTIS HUSSEY VEEDER, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T THE VEEDER Pfaillilv'r OFFICE; f

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT. i

orrma'rlim DEVI-CE ron VOTING-MACHINE REGISTERS, ae.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CURTIS HUssnY".

encev being had to the vaccompanying draw` ing, forming a part hereof. l

In a voting machine there is a register or counting device for each candidate and each question submitted land all of the registers or counting devices must be set to Zero after each election in order that the machine mayv be in readiness for the next election. As there are usually many such registers to be set to zero andas it is impracticable, becausev of thev interlocking devices which prevent the free manipulation of theivoters operating device, to use the voters operating device for the purpose of setting the register to zero, it is usually necessary to disconnect the voters operatingdevice from the register and thereafter to effect the resetting of the register to zero by direct rotation .of the -number Wheels by the application of the fingers thereto. fThis opera tion of re-setting, as usually performed,re

quires a great deal of `time. Furthermore,- the' construction of the operating and disconnecting devices has been lsuch that some of the parts are too light and Weak to Withstand repeated use satisfactorily fand that the disconnected gears do not always return' to proper engagement, with the'result that the voting machine does not. always operate laccurately and that the gears arefrequentlyv broken. The object of this invention -is so to improve the operating vand disconnecting devices as to permit a more rugged construction to be used, to permit the re-setting of each register to zero to be effected rapidly, and to cause the failure of thedis-` the voters operating device or knob is permitted to remain permanently in position and While normally in o erating connection with the drlving gear o the register, 1s d1s- Specification of\Letters Patent. i

- point Patented June s, 192.0.

` Application med october 2a, 1919. semina. 332,580.

.able implement, by means of vvhichl the resetting of the register can be effected `readily and quickly. Furthermore, there is provided anindicator Adevice Which indicates vat the front of the machine whetherthe voters operating device or knob is operativelysc'onnected with theregister. The

invention will be more fully explained hereinafter vWith reference to the accompanying drawings in Whichitis illustrated and in Which- V .Y

Figure'l Ais a vievvpatlyv in vertical section and partly in elevation of a portion of a voting machine including the register, the

Fig. '3 is a partial view similarto Fig. 1,

but. showing inyoperating position an limplement by -which the'voters operating device or knob is disconnected from the register and by Whichthe register can be actuated in the re-setting operation. 4-

Fig. 4 is a view similarto Fig. 3 from a of View at right angles vto-that of The register or counting device with which the improved operating mechanism is to be used may be of any usual or suitable construction. As4 shownv inV the drawings, it

of the saine in elevation, as seen from the right handin Fig. 1

l operating, device and the intermediate comprises a series of number Wheels 00,'

mounted upon a'fiXed shaft I J. and driven in the usual manner by a pinion a? and transyferringdevices a3 and a, all mountedv on a fixedI shaft. or spindle a5. Such register or counting device is suitably supported Within the front o r voters vside of the voting machine and is accessible-only from the rear for the purpose of permitting the record t'o be taken off and of permitting the register to be re-set to zero in readiness for asubsequent election. As shown, theregister or counting device has its two shafts a and a? mounted in the side Walls' b of a channel bar or. open casing, the front Wall b of which lies against a plate c which forms the front'or voters Walllof the voting machine. A driving gear d, provided with a slotted driving aperture, as at d', has a bearing in the plateb and is held in place by a bracket d, being accessible for engagement by the voting on a spindle cl* knob from the front and by a re-setting implement from the rear. Motion is transmitted from the driving gear d to the pinion (z2 of the register by gearing suited to the locking of the register. As shown, the gear (l meshes with a pinion Z3 which is mounted secured to the plate 2) and has formed therewith a bevel gear Z5 which meshes with a bevel gear (ZG mounted on the shaft or spindle a5 and having the pinion a2 of the register secured thereto. The voters knob or driver e, by which the register is actuated, has a shank e which is mounted in the front wall C and in a bar c and is provided as' usualwith afstar wheel e2 for cooperation with the usual locking device (not shown) by which the knob islimited to a single movement for each voter.

In order to permit the re-setting of the register from the rear of the voting machine, it is necessary to disconnect the voters knob or driver from the register, so thatthe re-settingof the register shall not be interfered with by the locking device which'cooperates withl the knob. It has been usual to eect such disconnection by separating two of the gears of the train of gearing between the knob and the register. This increases the cost of construction, reduces the certainty of operation and sometimes results in breakage of parts, through the failure of the separated gears to be brought into mesh properly after the re-setting has been effected. Moreover, it makes the operation of re-setting slow and troublesome. In accordance withA the present invention, howvever, the voters knob is provided with al.

driving member 63 which is mounted yieldyingly in the shank 0f the knob, so that, al-

though it normally engages the driving gear (Z, as shown in Fig. l, it ca-n be'thrust out of such engagement by the introduction from the rear of a re-setting implement indi-v cated at f.l The driving member c3 is mounted in a slot e4 formed in the inner end of the shank e ofthe knob and is itself slotted, as at e5, to receive a pin e which 'retains the driving member in place and limits itsl movement. The driving member is pressed forward by a spring e7 which is mounted 1n the bore of the shank e and 1s held in place by'a screw plug indicated by broken lines at e8.

Normally, the driving member e3 is in driving engagement with the driving gear (Z and the operation of the knob e by the voter effects a forward movement of the register. When, however, the vote has been completed and the record taken' and it is desired to re-set all ofthe registers of the voting machine to Zero, the voting machine is opened at the rear-and the proper official ing member without entering the slot in theshank of the voters knob, so that the knob is undisturbed during the re-setting operation.

In order that any possible failure of the driving member to engage properly the driving gear, after theV re-setting operation has been completed, may be indicated and the knob rotated sufficiently to bring about such engagement, the driving member e3 is provided with an indicating device, such as the pin g, which is mounted in the bore of the shank e7 and in a central bore of the.: screw plug e8, s0 that, when the driving member e3 is out of engagement with the driving gear el, the end of the pin g will be projected beyond the knob, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, thereby indicating to the inspector or other oflicial the fact that the driving member is not properly engaged with the driving gear.

It will be understood that various changes in details of construction may be made to suit differentconditions of use.

I claim as my invention:

1. A 'combination with a register, and gearing for operating the same, including a gear having a driving aperture, of an operating knob supported in fixed position and a spring pressed driving member carried by the knob and normally in engagement with the driving aperture of said gear and movable out of such engagement by an implement introduced from the opposite side of the driving gear.

2. A combination with a register, and gearing for operating the same, including a gear having a driving aperture, of an opery ating knob supported in fixed position, a spring pressed driving member carried by the knob 'andnormally in engagement with the drivingaperture of said gear and movable out of such engagement by an imple- .ment introduced from the opposite side of the CUR-Tis HUssnY vnnnnn. 

